Thanks to Susan for writing this recap for me in my absence:
There was a good buzz in the air today. Everyone was in good humour.
Our meeting started with Joanna welcoming everyone in Erin’s absence. We have a new committee and it is hoped that we can find out from members what would be liked in future meetings and that we would talk more about it at June’s meeting.
Joanna thanked Anne Marie of Kilbora Quilts for joining us at our meeting and wished her well in the future after closing her shop.
We were reminded that those wishing to submit a quilt for the National Exhibition should liaise with Joanna who will make sure they are delivered on time.
Other upcoming exhibitions were also announced including one in Bishopstown Library and Spike Island.
Executive news was given by Joanna as she is now the rep for the branch. The national AGM will take place on the 1st October in Kilkenny.
The librarians have asked that all library books out be returned by June’s meeting so that a stock take can take place over the summer break.
Mary Palmer gave a demo on binding with mitred corners and one strip binding. It was very well received.
Anne Marie gave a demo on free motion quilting rulers. It is a new way of doing free motion quilting with the aid of specific rulers and a special foot for the machine. This was very interesting and a lot was learned by us all.
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Show and Tell:
Mary Palmer – Japanese and batik fabrics. Quilt for her daughter
Joanna Harrington – A charity quilt made by Evelyn Montague
Frances Mc Carthy – 1720 map of cork unfinished was a workshop given by Ailbhe
Fionnula Creed – sampler quilt to test the star block for a wedding quilt
Finishing quilts from before
Carpenters Wheel
The bag carrying the quilts was made good number of years previous. All by Bernie Kelly
Two Quilts for Crumlin
Mystery quilt designed by Mary Palmer from a few years back
And “Think outside squares” quilt top good for beginners, all by Mary O’Connor
Jar Quilt by Anne Moloney
and Anne Moloney’s quilt she did with her daughter.
Frances McCarthy – Fat quarter quilt from a Canadian themed charm pack
Here’s a slideshow from all of the photographs taken by Susan:
From October 20-23, 2016, the twentieth edition of the Open European Quilt Championships takes place in MECC Maastricht. This is a milestone to celebrate! We’ve been invited to celebrate by sending in a fiber postcard on the theme of “Twenty.”
What do you have to do?
Below you can find the instructions for making a fibercard. This instruction was made available to us by Dineke Ugen. Design your own fibercard with the theme ‘Twenty’ and make it according to the instructions below. You can send us the fibercard by mail. In honor of the twentieth anniversary of OEQC a special jubilee exhibition is composed of all submitted fibercards. You want to exhibit with your fibercard at OEQC 2016 too, don’t you?
Instructions for making a fibercard
Special thanks to Dineke Ugen.
You need:
• A piece of adhesive batting, slightly larger than 15 x 15 cm.
• A post card, a larger piece of heavy paper or thin cardboard. Keep the weight of the card in mind with regards to the number of required stamps.
• Cotton ticking or a piece of unbleached cotton.
• Glue stick.
Method:
• Make a small “quilt” on the adhesive batting without backing. Or use thin cotton.
• Attach the cotton to the post card with your glue stick. Cut the cotton to size of the card.
• Iron the “quilt” on the card side. This is only possible if you have used adhesive batting. In case you used thin cotton you glue the cotton to the card. Cut the card to size (= 15 x 15 cm).
• Zigzag the postcard with colored yarn . Min 1.0 stitch length, stitch width 2.5 -. 3.0 / 0.4 / 0.5.
• Please note! Do not use black background fabric or black yarn to zigzag your fibercard. The fibercards will be presented on a dark wall. This will lead dark fibercards or dark details to fade into the background.
Additional information:
A fibercard can be sent as a regular post card, without an envelope. Cut out a square at the corner for the postmark. This way the mail man can enjoy your card too. Wrap your card in plastic if you used beads or other embellishment. Tape on the front side of the card, otherwise the address is not clearly visible. You can also send the card in a regular envelope. Please note! Fibercards are not returned after the show.
Please send the fibercard to our office address before September 1, 2016
You can send the card to the following address:
Textile Festivals
With reference to: 20 years OEQC
Rondven 42a
NL-6026 PX Maarheeze
The Netherlands
Good luck on behalf of Textile Festivals and Dineke Ugen.
With the May 31st deadline coming up, the committee is working on arranging a delivery of our branch’s quilts. This way, you don’t have to worry about the Post misplacing your precious package.
If you have a quilt ready for submittal, feel free to bring it to this Saturday’s meeting! Don’t worry if you still have some steps to go. Joanna will be announcing more details this Saturday at our meeting. The deadline for having your quilt in the delivery will be May 25th.
Greetings everyone! I hope May is finding you well. On behalf of the new committee, I’d love to say we’re very excited about the upcoming year! As I’m currently on holidays, Joanna will be taking over the duties of running our next meeting.
On May 14, 2016 we’ll be meeting at the Sacred Heart Church on Western Road, starting at 10 am.
Kilbora Quilt Shoppe will be the shop for the meeting. Anne Marie is planning on bringing a ton of deals for you to take advantage of as the shop has closed.
Anne Marie Hobbs will also be giving a talk.
Mary Palmer will be demonstrating binding, and there will be a hands on opportunity for members to try their hand at binding!
We will have our usual raffle.
Don’t forget to bring something to Show and Tell! We love seeing your work!
Be sure to bring a quilt for consideration for the EQA Diversity exhibition at the Festival of Quilts. Check out our blog for more information. The committee will be deciding on the quilt to represent our branch on May 28th. If you’re unable to attend the meeting, but would still like to put forth a quilt, please submit a good photograph to corkips@gmail.com
There will also be Tea and Coffee, and any refreshments you are kind enough to bring.
The sign up sheet for our June workshop will be available as well. There’s only 6 spots available for Ruth Bourke’s “Traditional Blocks Made Modern.” Be sure to sign up before you miss out on this awesome class! We’re running a blog series on Ruth, and her class. Be sure to follow it!
At our June 11th meeting, we’ve invited Ruth Bourke to give a talk on modern quilting and to run a workshop after the meeting entitled “Traditional Blocks Made Modern.”
Ruth lives in Limerick and is a member of the Mid-Western Branch of the Irish Patchwork Society. She serves on the committee of the branch as the Editorial Representative.
Ruth has been sewing since 2012, and was inspired to begin by her basset hound, Ben. He loved chewing on a baby blanket of hers, and when repairs were getting impossible, she wanted to make her own quilt. Now joined by her dogs Wilbur and Charly, they guard her stash and keep her company while she sews.
Ruth’s first quilt
Ruth is also a published designer! She published “Storybook” in the September/October 2014 issue of Make Modern Magazine. Also published is “Lost in London” in the May/June 2015 issue of Make Modern Magazine.
“Storybook” Quilt available on Ruth’s website and in Make Modern MagazineLost in London, available on Ruth’s website and in Make Modern Magazine.
Ruth has a fantastic blog entitled “Charly and Ben’s Crafty Corner” and can be found at http://benandcharlyscorner.blogspot.ie. The archive goes all the way back to January of 2013 and is a treasure trove of posts. You’ll find a page of tutorials Ruth has written about half square triangles, making an envelope backed cushion, finishing an embroidery hoop and exploring the Dutch Rose/Swoon block, just to name a few. You’ll also find posts on designing quilts using Microsoft Word, Touchdraw and Inkscape.
Dutch Rose/Swoon Block
Ruth also has a pattern shop where you can purchase the instructions on how to make her quilts “Lost In London,” a fat quarter friendly project, “Not Boxed In,” which uses small scraps, and Storybook, which utilises precuts. You’ll also find a patchwork drawstring bag pattern and “So Frosty Giant Block Quilt” which are free!
“Not Boxed In” available on Ruth’s website.
I had the opportunity to get to know Ruth a little better by asking her some questions.
What about the Modern aesthetic speaks to you?
I think overall the thing that draws me to modern quilts is the fun use of colour and space. I like a bit of asymmetry. I like to have my eye move around the quilt and be challenged in wondering how the quilter put it all together. I love Jen Kingwell’s designs especially her My Small World that caused Quiltmania’s magazine to sell out. Something like that with lots of design elements and fun way of putting it all together really makes me stop and take notice!
What is your favourite quilting notion?
I use my seam ripper more than I should but my favourite tool that makes quilting so much easier for me is my design wall – not sure you could call it a notion! We have 2 dogs who have no sense of personal space and will walk right through blocks laid out on the floor, or jump on and roll over my blocks arranged on the spare bed, so I had to go vertical and keep my stuff off of the floor.
So, I used a flannel sheet strung between a wall fitting and a bookcase to arrange my pieces. Small pieces would stick but whole blocks would have to be pinned to it but it did the trick. My uncle saw me one day putting it back up after we had visitors leave (I sew at the kitchen table so when we have people over to dinner all my stuff gets moved to the spare box room!).
My uncle is brilliantly handy and decided we could do better than my flannel sheet so he made me a design wall from a thin sheet of chipboard on a frame. I wrapped cotton wadding around it and stapled it in place and now have a 5ft wide by 7ft high wall to arrange pieces on. Sometimes I’ll leave a project up there for a while and move a piece or two every time I walk past! I take photographs to remind me as I often move them back again!
How do you squeeze in your sewing time during the day?
It’s really hard during the week to get much done. I work full time and have to travel with work from time to time so most of my sewing gets done on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I’m the only one early out of bed at the weekends. Our Basset Hound is epileptic so gets his tablets at 8am and 8pm every day so I do the morning shift! I usually get a good 3 hours to myself to sew and design quilts and quilt blocks before anyone else is up. I usually take a break from the computer at weekends and try to keep up with social media, blogs and Instagram during the week, especially on Friday evenings after work – that’s my favourite time of the week to chill out and catch up on what’s been happening.
What made you start blogging?
When I made my first quilt after watching Jenny Doan on Craftsy, I didn’t know anyone else who was into Patchwork. My aunt is a brilliant and can make any item of clothing for you but doesn’t quilt. I turned to the online community to learn and share with. At first I’d put my name in for a swap and not get picked and thinking about it I figured it was because they had no idea who I was. So I started joining groups and sharing on Flickr and eventually got brave and started writing and sharing on the blog. Putting myself out there like that was a bit nerve wracking but I braved up and kept making and writing and have made some really good friends through the online quilting community. Now the blog acts as resource for me as well as those who read it. It’s a place I can record my attempts at quilt design and techniques and settings I’ve tried. Every now and again when I’m trying to remember how to do something I look it up on the blog so it works as a sharing space for myself too!
Do you have a sewing group you regularly meet up with?
Yes we have a great group in Limerick that meets up on most Thursdays. When we made a group quilt together for the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham we had to come up with a name so we called ourselves Just Threads! It’s brilliant to have people you can brainstorm with and get opinions on ideas you may have. Sometimes just explaining your idea to someone else answers a question for you that you had been stuck on. They are a great supportive group and some nights the sewing might not be very productive but the social chat and advice is well worth the time! I try not to miss our Thursday nights if I can.
Stay tuned for Part 2! We’ll find out more about Ruth and the June workshop!
Southern Branch of the Irish Patchwork Society 